The Wolcott High boys tennis team is moving closer to another Naugatuck Valley League title.

The Eagles are 15-0 in the NVL and 17-0 overall with two league matches remaining. Naugatuck, its closest pursuer, has two losses and three matches remaining, including one against a good Torrington team.

If the Eagles beat Watertown today, they will clinch the NVL. Even if Wolcott loses today and loses its last match, it would finish at 16-2, equalling the best Naugy can do. Having beaten the Greyhounds twice, Wolcott holds the tiebreaker.

"Our starters have been amazing," said coach Steve Jasulavic. "Our top three are seniors (Alex Gauthier, Nick Mastropietro, and Cole Nelson). Right now, they are 46-3 on the season in singles and undefeated in doubles. Our next three are Matt Mastropietro, Jay Caggiano, and Matt Spina (a freshman, sophomore and freshman, respectively) and they are equally good at 45-5 in singles. I'm really proud of the guys and the hard work they put in."

Heading into the home stretch, the Nonnewaug boys are undefeated, while every other team in the Berkshire League has at least two losses, with Lewis Mills, Housatonic and Northwestern fighting for second place. Nonnewaug won its first 10 matches of the season.

"So far, despite going eight-plus years without a true home facility, the boys team is back on top," said coach Nick Sheikh.

The team is led by freshman Aaron Pezzullo at No. 1 singles and captains Baron Strasburger and Sam Kaelin at two and three singles, respectively. Pezullo is a freshman making his case for top player in the BL, said Sheikh.

At doubles, the Chiefs are led by Zach Matta and Jacob Field at No. 1 and Anson Morgan and Jacob Matta at No. 2. Others contributing include Aneesh Mistry, Evin Tyler, David Gow and Ryan Edwards.

Said Sheikh, "We have been deep this year at both singles and doubles, and will only graduate one senior. Having no courts at the high school nearly destroyed the teams at Nonnewaug in recent years as far as participation. Hopefully, we'll get some courts back on campus at the high school in the very near future. The teams have always played with a chip on their shoulder to prove to the town and school that the game matters to them. I'm proud of what they've accomplished."

The Shepaug boys, after contending for a BL title the last several seasons, are in a rebuilding mode but have won five of their first 11 matches.

"I'm pleasantly surprised by our record, considering we only had one returning player with any extensive varsity experience, and that player, Anthony Amato, played mostly No. 2 doubles for me last year," said coach David Bilmes. "We nearly upset Housatonic, losing 3-2 and giving them a scare at No. 3 singles, where their player, Eric Chin, who had only lost two matches all season at that spot, beat Ryan Bollard, 6-4, 7-5. Ryan made a great effort in that match, rallying from a 5-1 deficit in the first set to make it 5-4, and rallying from a 5-0 deficit in the second set."

After an 0-3 start, Holy Cross won seven of its next nine matches.

"Our young players have stepped up to help the team," said coach Ryan Mulhern. "Junior captain D.J. Bisaillon is 8-4 at No. 1 singles, and junior Matt Mazzatto is 11-1 at No. 2 singles. Sophomores Andrew Dzinski and Chris Frappier have both shown great improvement over the season."

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